More On MongoDB Certifications: Q&A With MongoDB

MongoDB certifications are becoming a popular option for database administrators and developers. We have the scoop on the latest in certs and training, straight from the MongoDB team.

As a major platform for big data and data analytics projects of all kinds, MongoDB -- and MongoDB certifications -- have attracted lots of interest and effort in the past couple of years. While writing the last blog post on the subject, I approached the company with some questions about their certification program and its offerings. The answers are interesting and informative enough to warrant a blog post of their very own.

MongoDB is a NoSQL environment that's specifically designed to accommodate and organize what is sometimes called unstructured data, which can mean anything from log files, to transaction records, customer data, and pretty much anything you can think of, whether it lives in a database of some kind or not. MongoDB is a focus of intense interest in IT nowadays, because it's viewed as instrumental, or even essential, to creating and maintaining big data projects.

In the past, I wrote about the introduction of the MongoDB certification program for developers and DBAs; we also included MongoDB certs on our list of the best Database certifications. Recently, we were able to exchange some e-mails with Jennifer Seelin from MongoDB to get answers to some questions around MongoDB certifications and training.

Q&A With MongoDB

Q. What has been the uptake for the current associate level DBA and Developer certs so far?

A. Nearly, 5,000 students have registered to take the exam since 2013.

Q. The professional certification page makes specific mention of Professional and Master level credentials. What plans does MongoDB have to develop and deliver these more advanced credentials for DBAs and Developers?

A. Professional-level certification will be available by the end of 2015. We will be offering Master level certification as well, but do not have a firm timeline on that yet.

Q. Other than O'Reilly MongoDB: The Definitive Guide is MongoDB working with other authors to produce aftermarket cert prep materials? If so, what is in the works?

A. MongoDB develops cert prep materials ourselves. In July, we will release comprehensive practice exams. We have also recently released a schedule of free instructor-led certification prep sessions. The best prep materials, of course, are the online courses we offer for free at university.mongodb.com. We will be adding to our current curriculum with additional advanced courses for both developers and DBAs in the coming year.

It's great to hear that the MongoDB cert program will take its second step later this year, with the introduction of Professional-level certs by the year's end. Because MongoDB isn't ready to talk dates for the Master credential(s), that means we're looking into 2016 or beyond for the top rung of their certification ladder to get nailed into place, but that's not at all atypical for an organization that's growing its cert program from scratch. I'm pretty jazzed that they've already had 5,000 exam registrations, but that only makes me curious to know what the pass/fail ratio is, and how many actual MongoDB certs have been awarded to date. I guess I'll ask, and see if I can find out.

Best of all was reading about free instructor-led training and a plethora of (mostly free) learning materials to support their certifications. While I was digging for the O'Reilly link, I also stumbled across an online version of the Definitive Guide available (legitimately) for free. I also discovered that O'Reilly now has multiple titles on MongoDB, including books that cover related design patterns, web development, data modeling, and more, plus various learning guides and cookbooks. APress also has a similar title, The Definitive Guide to MongoDB: A complete guide to dealing with Big Data using MongoDB. And in fact, an Amazon Book Search on MongoDB returns over 100 hits, where everything on the first couple of pages looks interesting, if not entirely relevant to MongoDB certification. Lots of good stuff out there, folks!